Jann Freed

Why the Mind is the Most Powerful Part of the Body

Since I write about leading, living, learning, and sage-ing, I am very interested in the the Healthiest State initiative based on the book The Blue Zoneby Dan Buettner. Richard Leider, one of my role models in this work, worked with Buettner to help Edina, Minnesota create a healthier community. Buettner's book is based on listening to the stories and studying the lives of people who live in the world's blue zones–pockets of people who live long, quality lives.

According to Buettner:

"The world's healthiest, longest-lived people have many things to teach us about living longer, richer lives. If wisdom is the sum of knowledge plus experience, then these individuals possess more wisdom than anyone else."

Becoming a sage is about wisdom and one of the key elements is to reflect on life's experience and process this experience (lessons learned) in order to share it with others. So what Buettner is doing is very consistent with sage-ing or the positive aging movement.

But the key is the MIND.

When we think of health, we often think of exercise. Buettner's identifies nine key characteristic that he labels Power9 and the first lesson is to Move Naturally. While exercise is certainly important for health, we don't exercise unless "we make up our mind" to do so.

How many times do we say things such as:

"Put your mind to it."

"Mind over matter."

"It is all in your mind."

Wellness is a combination of mind, body, and spirit, and the mind controls what we do with our body and spirit. We have to decide that we want to be healthier and this will be the challenge for the State of Iowa if the initiative is going to be successful.

Lesson Five Buettner calls Purpose Now. "Why should I get up in the morning?" Having a strong sense of purpose I believe is also powered by the mind. Even when we don't have much of a purpose, we know it in our mind and that is reflected in our body and spirit.

One of my friends in her early 60s just got a great position heading up a community foundation in an attractive city with nice weather. Her husband was a successful lawyer, but decided to retire because he was tired of practicing law. He is very willing to follow his wife and let her continue to follow her passion and purpose. But she tells me he is getting grumpy.

So I asked her, "What is his reason for getting up in the morning? What does he want to do with his time?" And immediately she told me that he does not have a focus, a purpose, and few to no hobbies.

Now I could help coach him and I like these challenges. But until he realizes this is a serious problem, he will continue on as he is and she will struggle with what to do. Hopefully, it won't affect their relationship, but it easily could and often does.

Couples are in this aging thing together so we have to talk to one another, help one another, and it all starts in the MIND. Aging is a part of living. What we don't think about is aging starts at birth. We are continually developing or we can stop growing, but it is all apart of the aging process. Aging well is about quality of life not a chronological number.

Now is the time to intentionally decide how we want to live the rest of our lives. If we want to be healthy, we need to MAKE UP OUR MINDS to do so. While some things are clearly out of our control, as long as we have our mind we can become healthier.

Quality of life is a reflection of the decisions that we make. Making intentional decisions based on a keen awareness of how these decisions affect our lives is what will increase the quality of life. This is why I believe the mind is the most important part of the body.

As Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi, on whom sage-ing is based, says, "Are we actually living longer or are we taking longer to die?"

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Testimonials

Jann spoke to our group of Property Managers about leadership as a relationship, and how important it is to leave behind your legacy in everything you do. She is an excellent speaker and opened the floor to related questions, providing in-depth answers to all. Many attendees complimented Jann on her presentation and knowledge on the subject matter.

Kim DeFily, Senior Real Estate Manager, CBRE

I recently reconnected with Jann at a Central College Alumni event. Although it has been more than three decades since I was a student in her classes, I found her positive energy and engagement skills even more polished than when I was a student. Jann is friendly, approachable, extremely knowledgeable, and best of all quite likeable. I would, without hesitation, and with enthusiasm attend one of her presentations. She continues to inspire me!

Kevin A. King, Vice President, Private Banking, Bankers Trust

Dr. Freed provided our keynote address as well as a break-out session for our Leadership NOW Annual Regional Conference. Dr. Freed spoke to a room of 150 attendees with various backgrounds and leadership positions. She provided an informative and relatable presentation.

Hollie Tometich, Executive Director, Ottumwa Leadership Academy

Jann spoke at John Deere in May 2014 for the Project Manager Forum. The topic addressed was Leaving Your Leadership Legacy. Jann was easy to communicate with, flexible, and professional. Jann Delivered a keynote 40 minute keynote speach as well as a working session on developing your leadership legacy. The participants of the forum found Jann to be thorough, engaging and an expert at the topic of developing a leadship legacy. I would hire Jann as a speaker again. She does a good job.

I highly recommend Jann Freed’s book, Leading with Wisdom: Sage Advice from 100 Experts. This book clearly identifies eight practices of great leaders, provides clear examples of the practices in action, and includes activities to implement the practices into daily life. I especially enjoyed reading about the stories and legacies of those interviewed for this project. This work is truly inspirational.

Dr. Julia A. Teahen, President Baker College Online

Leaders today are faced with new and complex challenges, in the midst of continual change. Leading With Wisdom provides a valuable overview of the leadership practices that truly matter, and when applied, make us not only more effective leaders, but better human beings… living to our full potential. The eight leadership practices outlined in the book provide insight to all – both the experienced and newer leaders. I look forward to sharing this book with the other leaders on my team.

As a former student of Jann Freed, I recommended her for a workplace program on leadership and legacy. Jann’s integrity and expertise quickly engaged the audience; she connected in a very conversational style while challenging us to think deeply about our individual and collective legacies. Jann’s humorous yet profound stories established her as a lifelong learner, teacher, seeker and mentor. She repeatedly credited others for their roles in her journey, especially in writing her several books.
The employees’ warm response, fresh ideas and positive feedback capped off the entire experience. We’ll further explore the legacy path with a study of “Leading with Wisdom” later this year, so we’ve had a very fruitful collaboration with Jann – I’d recommend her again.

Jann supported our organization with sessions on how to communicate within our team as we undergo changes in our way of work. She was able to connect with our staff in a way that made everyone comfortable allowing them to process and openly discuss ideas.

Jamie Boersma / CEO at Girls Scouts Greater Iowa

Jann is an excellent communicator. She has a special ability to ask questions that cut through the fluff and get to the issue at hand. She also has the gift of being able to present information that is timely, relevant and purposeful. In other words, she can make you a better you.

Craig A. Wassenaar / CFP®, AIF® Wassenaar Financial Group

Jann was able to customize a business lunch workshop to meet the unique needs of our group. When leadership focused development is a must for you or your organization, I highly recommend Jann Freed. Effortless collaboration-an empowering and inspirational moment in time.
A writer, I am not…but when I close my eyes and remember the day, this is how I still feel